Virat Kohli vs others: Who is a better skipper in leading from the front?

Virat Kohli is leading from the front in the tour of South Africa. He has been extra-ordinary with the bat so far in the tour of South Africa. Kohli has scored 870 runs in 13 innings on this tour so far across formats.

He needs another 105 runs to move past Sir Don Bradman’s tally of 974 runs in a tour. Kohli led from the front in the ODI series against South Africa with three tons to help India win the series 5-1. (Note: The article is written before the second T20I against South Africa) He is expected to do the same role in the T20I series as well.

Among the skippers in today’s cricket, who is better in leading from the front for his nation across formats?

Is it Virat Kohli? Or is it Steve Smith who led his team from the front in Ashes 2017-18 to help Australia win the Test series 4-1? Or, is it Kane Williamson who leads the batting for New Zealand across formats?

Cricwizz analyses their performances to decide who is a better skipper in leading from the front.

Tests:

Batting averages as skipper:

Virat Kohli

Steve Smith

Kane Williamson

Tests

65.20

76.45

56.04

Verdict: Steve Smith exceeds both Kohli and Williamson when it comes to leading from the front in Tests. However, it is important to note here that there is not big difference in batting averages (11.25) as skipper between Kohli and Smith.

Virat Kohli – Steve Smith

Tons per innings as skipper:

Virat Kohli

Steve Smith

Kane Williamson

Tests

4.07

3.6

6

Verdict: In such a situation, Smith fares slightly better than Kohli and Williamson. But once again, it is a small margin of 0.47 innings between Kohli and Smith. Williamson has a ton per innings at the rate of 6 innings as skipper, nowhere near Kohli or Smith.

Series wins: Steve Smith led Australia to 4-0 Ashes win. But for Kohli, except in the Test series against Australia in 2017, he has led from the front in every series, helping India create a unique record of posting bilateral Test series win against all Test-playing nations. This record was finally broken when India lost the Test series in South Africa 1-2 in 2018.

ODIs: Batting average as skipper

Virat Kohli

Steve Smith

Kane Williamson

ODIs

84.35

45.09

48.34

Tons per innings as skipper:

Virat Kohli

Steve Smith

Kane Williamson

ODIs

3.54

10

12

Verdict: That explains Kohli No 1 ODI rank as best batsman. He has scored a ton as a skipper every 3.54 innings, way much better than Smith and Williamson.

Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson

T20Is:

Batting averages as skipper

Virat Kohli

Steve Smith

Kane Williamson

T20Is

36.11

34.57

30.82

Fifty per innings as skipper:

Virat Kohli

Steve Smith

Kane Williamson

T20Is

6

4

5.5

Overall: In T20s, a quick 30s and 40s are more important than the number of fifties. Hence, Kohli with an average of 36.11 and a fifty per six innings as skipper excel among the three captains in this format.